


if only in my dreams

by TheReginaMills



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21628531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheReginaMills/pseuds/TheReginaMills
Summary: Emma has been deployed for over three years and Regina is having a hard time at the holidays without her wife
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 69
Collections: Swan Queen Advent Calendar Collection 1





	if only in my dreams

Regina looked at the calendar on the wall, picking up a sharpie and crossing off another day. Emma had been overseas in an undisclosed location for over three years, and Regina was looking forward to spring when her soldier would return home. Three Christmases without her wife had made her begin to resent the holiday meant for loved ones to spend time and celebrate together. It was just three days before Christmas and Regina’s apartment hadn’t seen a single Christmas decoration yet. She sighed and stood from her desk, rubbing her face with both hands and leaving her study.

“Hello, Freddy!” Regina’s dachshund jumped at her leg as she exited the study and she leaned down, scratching him behind the ear. He lapped at her hand and she smiled, reaching around his ribs to pick him up and tuck him under her arm before walking to the kitchen. Just as she was about to open the fridge, her phone began buzzing on the counter. She looked at the caller ID and groaned, picking it up and sliding to answer it.

“Good evening, Mary Margaret.” she rolled her eyes and set Freddy down on the hardwood floor. His nails clicked as he walked away and laid on his doggy bed in the corner.

“No, Mary Margaret, I have not received any letters from Emma. You know she can’t write while she’s on assignments like this.” the woman on the other end of the phone continued speaking, and Regina rubbed at her temples with her free hand. “You know as well as I do that she comes home in April.” Mary Margaret kept blathering on and Regina quickly got frustrated.

“Listen, Mary Margaret, I would love to continue this phone call, but I need to make myself dinner and feed Freddy, okay? I’ll talk to you later. Mhm. Bye.” Regina ended the call and set the phone back on the counter, sighing heavily and running her hands through her hair. She leaned against the countertop and closed her eyes. Missing Emma had taken its toll on her mind, especially not being able to know where in the world she was. She took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, willing the tears threatening to spill over to dry up. A knock at her apartment door startled her and she quickly reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, sniffling as she slid her way around the island to make her way to the door. She looked through the peephole and smiled broadly before opening the door. 

“Ruby!” She let go of the door and wrapped her arms around the other woman tightly. “It’s so good to see you! Why didn’t you tell me you’d be in town? I would’ve set up the spare room for you!” 

“You know how much I love a good surprise, Regina!” Ruby crosses her arms in front of her and pushed her hip out, grinning at Regina and laughing before picking up her bag and pushing past Regina into her apartment. She dropped her bag on the couch and turned to Regina quickly. “I’m taking you out tomorrow. All day. We’ll go shopping, get mani pedis, anything you want to do. But I’m getting you out of the house. You’re skulking around in this grinch of a house and I don’t like it.”

“Ruby I-”

“No arguments, Regina. You,” Ruby poked Regina’s shoulder, “are going out. It’s beautiful and snowy and you need some time away from yourself.” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Regina, daring her to say anything else. 

“Fine, Ruby.” Regina rolled her eyes. “But I’m not staying out past 8. I need my time to unwind, you know.” Ruby huffed, but nodded. 

“Deal!” She reached out and patted Regina on the head, eliciting a swat from the other woman. “Now, where am I sleeping, woman?” 

The facade of anger quickly faded from Regina’s face as she reached out to grab Ruby’s bag from the couch. She looked over at Ruby and nodded her head toward the hallway, throwing Ruby’s bag over her shoulder as she walked to the guest bedroom. Lining the hall were photographs of her and Emma’s life together and each picture deepened the longing Regina felt to see her wife. She opened the door to Ruby’s bedroom and laughed as Ruby ran past her and flopped on the bed, her arms falling over her torso. 

“Make yourself comfortable, Rubes. I’m gonna go run a bath. There’s food in the kitchen, and some wine in the wine fridge you’re more than welcome to.” 

“Thanks, Regina. Enjoy your bath!” Ruby flashed a toothy smile at Regina and jumped up off the bed. Regina smiles back and turned on her heel, exiting the guest bedroom and making her way to her own room. 

Regina stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel. Her hair had begun to hang past her shoulders when it was wet, a sign that she would need a trim soon. She dried herself and slipped into her flannel pajamas, a staple for this time of year when her heater just couldn’t compete with the cold outside. Without Emma there to warm her, Regina was always cold when she slept. 

After brushing her hair back and securing it with a headband, Regina stepped out of the en-suite and into her bedroom. She sat down gently on the edge of her side of the bed and grabbed the picture of Emma in uniform from the side table. Smiling up at her was the beautiful blonde, her helmet under her arm and gun sling behind her back. Regina traces Emma’s face with her index finger and reached up to wipe a tear away. She was so sick of endless war keeping her wife away from her. After drying her eyes with the back of her hand, she set the photo back on the side table and stood up, heading for the door. 

On the other side of the door was a very exasperated Freddy, not happy to have been shut out of Regina's room. She bent down and gave the little guy a scratch on the head and walked down to the guest room, knocking softly on the door. 

“Ruby?” 

“Yeah come in!” Regina pushes her way in and say on the corner of the bed where Ruby was spread out texting on her phone. 

“Who’s got you chatting so late?” Regina quirked an eyebrow at the other woman who was grinning ear to ear. 

“Just this gorgeous woman I met at the airport.” She winked at Regina and returned her focus to the phone in her hands. “We’re making plans to maybe meet up while I’m here.”

“You just met her at the airport?” 

“Well she also sat next to me on the flight so I had a good 3 hours to get to know her, Regina.” 

Regina never quite understood how Ruby could be so spontaneous all the time. It had taken Emma 3 months to finally get Regina to say yes to a date, and here Ruby was meeting up with a woman she’d only just met. Ruby faked a yawn and stretched her arms out. 

“Listen, I’m really tired from all that travel today. Mind if I hit the hay?” Ruby set her phone down on the side table and pulled her socks off, tucking her feet under the cover. 

“Of course, Rubes. Goodnight.” Regina smiled and got off the bed, closing the door behind her softly. As soon as Regina had left the room, Ruby snatched her phone up and began texting the woman saved in her phone as “Blondie.” 

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

The next morning, Ruby knocked on Regina’s bedroom door bright and early. Regina pushes her eye mask up into her hair and glanced at the clock: 7:15 in the morning. She groaned and flopped back onto her pillow, rolling her eyes before throwing the blankets off and getting out of bed. 

“Morning Regina!!!” Ruby shouted through the door. “I’ve got the coffee ready, just need you out here to drink it!”

“Aw, thank you Ruby. I’ll be out in just a moment.” Regina grabbed her robe and tied it shut around her waist, grabbing her cell phone from the charger and opening the door. Freddy’s ears perked up and he rose from his doggy bed, stretching his little legs out in front of him and following Regina to the living room. Ruby has laid out breakfast and coffee for two on the island and was sitting in Emma’s spot when Regina rounded the corner. The sight of someone sitting in Emma’s place jarred her mind and she leaned against the door frame for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to calm her racing heart. Once her heart was no longer pounding in her ears she strode over and sat across from Ruby, picking up her fork and thanking Rby before digging in. 

After breakfast, Regina and Ruby went to their rooms to get ready for their day on the town. Regina dressed in her favorite burgundy dress paired with black tights and gold earrings. She slipped her black boots on and zipped them up. Giving her makeup one final look in the mirror, she fluffed her hair and grabbed her purse, leaving Freddy in his doggy bed as she turned the light off and shut her bedroom door behind her. Ruby was waiting for her on the couch, clad in a pair of jeans and a forest green sweater. 

“I’m ready when you are!” Ruby turned her head around and took in the site of Regina and smiled. She stood and made her way to the coat closet. 

“Perfect! I was thinking we could go to those little boutiques you like, and then see where the day takes us!” She grabbed her coat and slipped it on, buttoning it up and grabbing Regina’s coat from the hanger. “Here you go!” Regina grabbed it and put it on. 

“Thanks Rubes.” Ruby looped her arm through Regina’s and pulled her out the door. 

SQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQSQ

Several hours later they arrived back at Regina’s, their arms laden with bags from various shops around town. Regina stopped in the hallway, putting her arm out to stop Ruby as well. 

“Ruby,” she whispered, “the door to my apartment is open.” Ruby furrowed her brow and pushed Regina’s arm out of the way. “Ruby what are you doing?!” She whisper yelled. 

“Going to investigate, duh.” Ruby pushes the door open and went inside. After several seconds passed she called out to Regina. “It’s clear!” Regina rolled her eyes and walked in. 

“One of these days you’re goi-”

“SURPRISE!!” A chorus of voices greeted Regina as soon as she entered her apartment. She screamed and dropped several bags, her hand flying up to her chest. Seconds later she found herself at the center of a group hug made up of friends she hadn’t had the energy to see lately. 

“Ruby!!! I know you’re behind this!” She shouted from the middle of the dog pile. They slowly extracted themselves from her one by one and smiled. She was so happy to see everyone she couldn’t stay mad at Ruby. She looked around her apartment and took in all the decorations now adorning the walls and the tree someone had put up in the corner of the living room. “Who did all this?” She searched for Ruby’s face among the people in her apartment. Ruby shook her head and pointed at Mary Margaret. 

“It was me.” She said sheepishly. “I knew you hadn’t decorated in several years because of…. well, you know. And I just couldn’t stand the thought of you being in a dreary apartment at Christmas again. Ruby helped me get everyone together though. I know it’s not much, but it’s all we could do in such a short time.” 

“No, Mary Margaret, I love it!” She reaches out and pulled the woman into a hug. “Thank you so much.” 

“Any time, Regina. You’re family, remember?” Regina nodded and laughed quietly. 

“Well, what do you say we get the drinks flowing and some music on?!” All eyes turned to Ruby as her boisterous voice filled the room. Suddenly Regina’s apartment was buzzing with activity as the small gathering began to move around for drinks. Regina walked over to the Bluetooth speaker and turned it on, queueing up her favorite Christmas music. 

About an hour into the party, Regina felt the wave of happiness she had experienced from the surprise of her friends being there. The most important person, the one she missed the most, her wife, wasn’t there to enjoy the party with her. She scooted her wine around in a small circle on the island, her chin resting in her hand. 

“Why the long face, Regina?” Ruby sidled up next to her. 

“I just miss Emma, you know?” She continued to look down at her glass. 

“Yeah, I know.” Ruby leaned over and put her arm around Regina, rubbing her shoulder. Her phone started buzzing and she pulled it out of her pocket to check the caller ID. 

“Blondie, huh?” Regina chuckled. “Go answer it!” Ruby ducked out and headed down the hall to answer her phone. Several minutes later Regina heard a knock at the door and went to answer it. When she opened the door, her heart nearly stopped and her vision went black for a moment. Standing on the other side of the door was her soldier, her Emma. She began crying and reached out to pull Emma to her, holding her as tight as she could. She felt Emma wrap her arms around her and sobbed. 

“I told you one of these days I’d be home for Christmas.” Emma pulled Regina away from her and kissed her deeply. Regina kisses her back and pulled her legs up to wrap around Emma’s waist. Everyone in the apartment had begun crying as well, Mary Margaret sobbing loudly into David’s chest. 

“You’ve been in my dreams for months.” Regina wiped away her tears. “I can’t believe you’re here! How? When?” Regina was confused and elated. 

“Well, Ruby over there pulled some strings with her boyfriend.” Emma kissed Regina again. “And the best part is, I’m home to stay. This was my last tour and I’m not going back!” Regina’s eyes grew wide and filled with tears again. “I missed you too much, Regina.”

“I missed you, too.” She grabbed Emma’s hand and pulled her into the apartment, shutting the door behind them and pointing a finger at Ruby. 

“Some blonde you met on the plane here?! Really?” Ruby laughed and shrugged. 

“Had to get her here somehow, Regina.” Regina rushes over to her and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear. 

“Thank you so much, I owe you.” She pulled away from Ruby and turning back to Emma, her chest swelling and her heart content. 

The moment she had waited for, the moment that had only been in her dreams for so long, was finally here and she was so incredibly happy. Emma was home and all was right. She heard Emma clear her throat and followed her eyes up. They were standing under the mistletoe Mary Margaret had hung. 

“Merry Christmas, Regina.” Emma leaned down and kissed her. 

“Merry Christmas, Emma.”


End file.
